Bill Simmons on D&C: Doc’s ‘best series ever’

ESPN columnist Bill Simmons joined the Dennis & Callahan show Thursday morning to talk about the Celtics‘ impressive performance in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cavaliers. To hear the interview, check out the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

Said Simmons: “The last two games, I feel like they’ve finally looked like the team that they looked like before that Christmas Day 2008 game against the Lakers, when [their record] was 27-2. Then they lose that game, they go on a little skid, [Kevin] Garnett gets hurt, the team’s never really been the same. You look at this whole series, they’ve played better in four of the five games. And they’ve dominated two of them.”

Simmons said Rajon Rondo’s ability to dominate and LeBron James‘ failure to do the same is the obvious key. “It always come down to who has the best guy in a series, I always think. … The bottom line is Rondo’s played better than LeBron in this series. [Rondo’s] stats weren’t good in the first half of Game 5 — I didn’t feel like he was having a bad game, but in the second half I thought he dominated that game. He controlled the flow. He controls every aspect of that game. They can’t match up with him. They’re changing their defense to try to get him. He’s in Mo Williams‘ head. Mo Williams is a basket case. Now LeBron’s probably going to have to defend him.”

Simmons also pointed to an unheralded bench player who has made a big difference for Boston. “The shocker of all shockers is Tony Allen,” Simmons said. “Because this is a guy we’ve watched for six years. It actually started in the Miami series. He had a really good Game 1. I thought he helped them win Game 2. He and Rasheed [Wallace] were the things that kind of swing that game. Everyone was talking about Rondo in Game 4, and rightfully so, but Tony Allen — that was the best game of his career. He’s actually making layups, he’s finishing, he’s not doing stupid things.”

On the other side of the court, Anderson Varejao’s disappearing act is leading to rumors that the forward is hiding an injury. “I think he’s injured. It’s just really weird how he’s been playing,” Simmons said. “He only played 17 minutes in Game 5. And this is a guy who kills the Celtics, He’s just such a bad matchup. And also when Cleveland plays well, he’s playing 35-40 minutes a game. I think he’s the second-most important guy. For what he’s doing in this series and the minutes he’s getting, I think that’s one of the reasons the Celtics have a 3-2 lead.”

Simmons questioned the performance of Cavs coach Mike Brown, saying, “When coaches are grasping for straws, you can see it.” Then he heaped praise on Doc Rivers, a coach Simmons frequently has crititicized. “I think this has been his best series ever,” Simmons said. “I just think he’s had a command of the series. The timeouts — he’s called great timeouts, which he never used to do. You can feel Cleveland coming on, and he’s been stopping the runs, which is nice.”

The winner of the Celtics-Cavaliers series gets the red-hot Magic, but Simmons said that would be an appealing matchup for the C’s. “The way they match up with Orlando, if they can somehow get by this Cleveland team for one more game, they match up fantastic with Orlando,” Simmons said. “They have guys to throw at Dwight Howard. Rondo can beat Jameer Nelson. Vince Carter, who’s been dribbling through the lane with impunity, they’ll just knock his butt down. He’s not going to be able to do that stuff against the Celtics. I think they match up so much better against Orlando than they do against Cleveland.”